Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary
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Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary Prepared for: Society of Ecosystem Restoration in North Central BC 1560 Highway 16 E, Vanderhoof, BC ,V0J 3A0 Submitted by: Ecofor Consulting Ltd. 140 Stuart Dr W. Fort St James, BC V0J 1P0 Canada Phone: 250-996-2151 Ecofor Contact: Mark Pokorski Date: 3 March 2017 SERNbc – Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary DOCUMENT INFORMATION Project Number: 2016-2083-001 File Number: Filename: 2016_SERNbc_SRPP_Summary.docx Document Revision: 0 REVISION HISTORY Reviewed Approved Rev.# Date of Issue Description By By 0 2017-03-03 CG MP Initial release 2016_SERNbc_SRPP_Summary.docx ecofor.ca Page ii Template Version: 10 SERNbc – Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 PROJECT LOCATION ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2 METHODS .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 PLOT SELECTION ............................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.2 PLOT ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2 3 RESULTS & DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................................... 2 3.1 TREE CANOPY ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 REGENERATION AND SAPLINGS ................................................................................................................................................. 4 3.3 SHRUBS ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 3.4 UNDERSTORY...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 3.5 COARSE WOODY DEBRIS ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.6 WILDLIFE ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.7 UNIDENTIFIED PLANTS ................................................................................................................................................................... 8 4 CONTINUING/FUTURE WORK ................................................................................................................................. 8 4.1 DATA ENTRY TRIAL ........................................................................................................................................................................... 8 5 CLOSURE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9 6 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................................................................................... 10 APPENDICES Mapping ............................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Data Tables ....................................................................................................................................................................... 13 Photodocumentation ................................................................................................................................................... 19 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Plot location and assessment dates for Stuart River PP in 2016 ......................................................................................... 3 Table 2: Summary of tree species and basal area in BAF 4 prism plots for Stuart River PP vegetation monitoring plots in 2016. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Table 3: Species of large shrub and tree sapling and regeneration layers in Stuart River PP vegetation monitoring plots in 2016. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 2016_SERNbc_SRPP_Summary.docx ecofor.ca Page iii Template Version: 10 SERNbc – Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary Table 4: Average length along shrub transects and number of plots for each shrub species detected within Stuart River PP in 2016. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Table 5: Coarse woody degree ocular estimates for each plot in Stuart River PP in 2016. ........................................................ 6 Table 6: Total pellet groups for ungulate species detected at Stuart River PP in 2016. .............................................................. 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Den site located near Plot 1 in Stuart River PP. ......................................................................................................................... 7 2016_SERNbc_SRPP_Summary.docx ecofor.ca Page iv Template Version: 10 SERNbc – Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary 1 INTRODUCTION The Society for Ecological Restoration in Northern BC (SERNbc) has an ongoing restoration program at Stuart River Provincial Park near Fort St James, BC. The site was treated with prescribed burns in 2002, 2009, and 2014 with the intent of increasing and maintaining the amount of grassland area present. Vegetation monitoring was previously conducted 2006 (Sharp 2006), 2009 (Albertson 2009), and 2012 (FLNRO; unpublished data). Ecofor Consulting Ltd (Ecofor) was retained by SERNbc to conduct vegetation monitoring as per the Prescribed Burn Monitoring Protocol for Omineca Region, British Columbia (Rooke et al 2015). This document summarizes the work conducted at the Stuart River Provincial Park (PP) by Ecofor in 2016. 1.1 PROJECT LOCATION The vegetation monitoring plots in Stuart River PP are located approximately 34 km south of the town of Fort St James, BC. The approximate centre point of the sampling area is at UTM coordinates (NAD 83) Zone 10U, 442926 E, 6007546 N. The site can be accessed by road by following the Necoslie Forest Service Road (FSR) southeast from Vanderhoof for 33 km, then following the Charlie FSR for approximately 5 km (UTV/ATV maybe required during wet conditions). Access to the plots by foot is possible from this road. The Project area is comprised mainly of a matrix of grassland, shrubs and regenerating forest varying in composition on a south facing hillside. Mature mixed forest is present in most locations at the top and bottom of the slope. 1.2 OBJECTIVES The monitoring objectives were to collect data to characterize changes in vegetation composition and stand structure resulting from the prescribed burn. 2 METHODS The Prescribed Burn Monitoring Protocol for Omineca Region, British Columbia (Rooke et al 2015) was used as the guideline for the survey methods. 2.1 PLOT SELECTION Ten plot locations were established during the original monitoring visit in 2006 (Sharp 2006). Plots were marked with a 1 m length of steel rebar. All plots were located in areas that were burned (i.e. no control plots). Relocation of the original plot center rebar markers was not possible in most cases. There were abundant fallen logs and dense shrubs in many locations, which made finding the rust-coloured rebar difficult or prevented it altogether. The original rebar was located at plots 7, 8, 9, and 10. At the other plots, the GPS point from 2009 was used to locate the plot centre. 2016_SERNbc_SRPP_Summary.docx ecofor.ca Page 1 Template Version: 10 SERNbc – Stuart River Provincial Park 2016 Vegetation Monitoring Summary 2.2 PLOT ASSESSMENT In 2006, 2009, and 2012 the plots were assessed using the Stuart River Prescribed Fire Monitoring Protocol (Simonar and Migabo 2006). In 2009, no data was collected for Plot 7, since the survey crew found that GPS coordinates and site characteristics did not match the 2006 data. Plot 7 appears to have been